The door creaked open.
Shui Hua slowly stepped out of the room, clutching the sword Jiang Qingwan had given her.
Usually, she feared neither Heaven nor Earth. She dared to chase fish into the sea, talk back to Old Jiang, and even smash a basket of dead fish into the face of the young heir of a cultivation clan in Cloudreach City.
But tonight, something was terribly wrong.
The old oil lamp in the courtyard cast a dim, murky light. Sea mist pressed against the fence. The little courtyard, so familiar that she knew every inch of it, now seemed to be surrounded by some invisible tide.
Old Jiang stood in the middle of the yard.
His back was still hunched, and he held the old tobacco pipe he had used for so many years.
But Shui Hua had never seen that look in his eyes before.
Cold.
Heavy.
Like a piece of ancient iron buried beneath the deepest sea.
Beyond the courtyard gate, Zhu Changli stood in the mist, dressed in a deep-blue sacrificial robe.
His expression had originally been calm.
But the moment he saw Shui Hua’s face, all that composure cracked apart.
He said nothing.
He simply stared at her.
That face looked far too much like hers.
Not exactly the same.
Tantai Jingyue was cold and clear as the moon, her brows and eyes seeming to be veiled beneath snow that never melted.
When she stood among a crowd, she seemed born to be worshiped upon a divine throne, forever separated from the smoke and bustle of the mortal world.
But the girl before him was bright and vibrant.
Her eyes held the sea breeze, schools of fish, curling cooking smoke, and the lively sounds of human life in Sunset Village.
She could cunningly pretend to be pitiful, and when she was afraid, she would clutch the sword she had just received with all her strength, stubbornly refusing to show the slightest hint of fear.
And yet their bone structure, brows, eyes, and facial contours—even the curve of their eyes when they lifted their heads at that moment—were astonishingly similar.
One glance was enough for Zhu Changli to understand.
Everything had fallen into place.
The silence in the courtyard stretched on for too long.
Under Zhu Changli’s gaze, Shui Hua began to feel uncomfortable all over.
She looked at Old Jiang, then at Zhu Changli, and suddenly let out two awkward laughs, trying to make the atmosphere less frightening.
“Ha-ha…”
“Greetings, great lord of the Divine Palace.”
Clutching the sword, she tried her best to appear a little more composed.
“Well, if Old Jiang did anything to offend you in the past, I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
“He’s just foul-mouthed, pretentious, and always hitting people.”
“But he’s not really a bad person.”
The corner of Old Jiang’s eye twitched violently.
What time was this? How could this girl still be spouting nonsense?
After speaking, Shui Hua suddenly remembered that villagers were supposed to bow when meeting important figures.
She had no idea what kind of salute the Divine Palace required.
So, still hugging the sword, she hesitated for a moment before instinctively trying to kneel.
“Allow me to apologize—”
Her knees had just begun to bend when Zhu Changli’s eyes flickered sharply.
Almost at the exact same instant, he appeared before Shui Hua and reached out to steady her.
He had moved so quickly that Shui Hua did not even have time to react.
Old Jiang’s hand also clamped down on his tobacco pipe in an instant, his gaze turning frighteningly cold.
But Zhu Changli did not attack.
He merely held Shui Hua up, refusing to let her kneel.
Because at that moment, only one thought remained in his mind.
Who in this world could accept a bow from her?
Who would dare accept a bow from her?
If she truly was one half of the twin Hairuo, then even if her divine nature had yet to awaken, even if she was currently nothing more than an ignorant young girl from Sunset Village, she was by no means an ordinary mortal girl.
And certainly not someone before whom he, Zhu Changli, could accept a kneeling salute.
Shui Hua was clearly stunned when he caught her.
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
Zhu Changli quickly composed himself.
He released her and gave her a gentle smile.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“Old Jiang and I have no grudge between us.”
Shui Hua asked softly, “Really?”
Zhu Changli nodded.
“We haven’t seen each other for many years. I only wanted to ask him about a few things from the past.”
He paused, then raised his hand and gently patted Shui Hua on the head.
The gesture was very light.
It resembled the way an elder comforted a younger child.
But it also carried the restraint of a subject standing before an unspeakably exalted figure, as though even touching her required the utmost caution.
Shui Hua blinked.
She felt that this Lord of Fate did not seem quite as frightening as he had a moment ago.
Only Old Jiang’s expression remained grim.
Zhu Changli said gently, “It’s late.”
“Go back inside and get some sleep.”
Shui Hua hesitated and looked toward Old Jiang.
After a moment of silence, Old Jiang said hoarsely, “Go back to bed, Huahua.”
Shui Hua hugged the sword tighter and nodded.
She walked back into the house, turning her head three times with every step.
The door closed again.
Its soft creak rang out with unusual clarity through the night mist.
The moment Shui Hua returned to her room, the atmosphere in the courtyard changed completely.
Zhu Changli stared at the closed door and remained silent for a long time.
Old Jiang did not urge him.
Both of them knew that from the moment Shui Hua pushed open the door and stepped outside, certain things could no longer remain hidden.
At last, Zhu Changli asked quietly, “What is her name?”
Old Jiang did not conceal it.
“Shui Hua.”
Zhu Changli closed his eyes.
A moment later, he let out a low laugh.
There was no joy in it.
It sounded more as though the absurdity of it all had reached its absolute limit, leaving him unsure whether to laugh or sigh.
“A good name.”
“Truly, a good name.”
He repeated it under his breath.
“Shui Hua.”
“Jingyue.”
“Mirror flowers and water moon…”
His voice gradually fell lower.
“No wonder.”
“No wonder twin moons hung together above the sea.”
“No wonder Tantai Jingyue was never able to fully receive the aid of the Mirror Sea during the Grand Ceremony of the Myriad Phenomena in the Great Void.”
“I should have realized it long ago.”
Zhu Changli raised his eyes to Old Jiang.
“Mirror flowers and water moon.”
“The twin Hairuo…”
“In this generation, Hairuo is actually twins.”
Old Jiang looked at him coldly.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“This is the price of your curiosity.”
“Zhu Changli, you’ve just turned the heavens upside down.”
Zhu Changli did not immediately argue.
Because he knew Old Jiang was right.
This was no ordinary old case.
Nor was it merely a mistake in the records of the Hall of Fate.
This was the secret that the Cangming Divine Palace could least afford to have exposed.
If Shui Hua truly possessed the other half of Hairuo’s destiny, then the divine nature Tantai Jingyue currently bore was incomplete.
And if Tantai Jingyue’s divine nature was incomplete, then the actions of the previous Lord Hai Ruo—taking one child away and leaving the other behind—were enough to shake the very foundations of the Divine Palace.
More frightening still, if the divine nature was split between twins while the Divine Palace worshiped only one of them, then what did that make Shui Hua?
And what did it make Tantai Jingyue?
One had been hidden amid the smoke and warmth of ordinary human life.
The other had been enshrined beneath a divine throne.
Which one was the mirror flower, and which one was the water moon?
And who had chosen this life for them?
After a long silence, Zhu Changli finally asked, “Was this Lord Hai Ruo’s arrangement?”
Old Jiang did not answer.
Zhu Changli asked again, “Did she know back then?”
Old Jiang still said nothing.
Zhu Changli’s voice deepened.
“Jiang Huaichao.”
“You should know that if this gets out of control, it won’t just be you and me who die.”
“The entire Cangzhou will descend into chaos.”
Old Jiang gave a cold laugh.
“And?”
“You intend to take her back to the Divine Palace?”
Zhu Changli said nothing.
Old Jiang took a step forward. His eyes were faintly reddened, and his voice was pressed low.
“Zhu Changli.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“She knows nothing about Hairuo, nothing about divine nature, nothing about mirror flowers and water moons.”
“She isn’t the Divine Palace’s goddess.”
“She’s only my Huahua.”
Those words pierced deep into the night like a blunt needle.
Zhu Changli stood in the mist and remained silent for a long time.
He was the Lord of Fate.
He was supposed to investigate destinies.
He was supposed to correct the divine registry.
Everything had to be returned to order.
If the Goddess’s destiny was flawed, he should have been the one to complete it.
But if this little girl before him were truly taken back to the Divine Palace, what would await her?
Dissection?
Sacrifice?
Or would she be used to complete Tantai Jingyue?
Zhu Changli did not know.
Or rather, he knew the answer would not be a good one.
He suddenly recalled how Shui Hua had tried to kneel and apologize in Old Jiang’s place.
So lively, so recklessly unaware of the vastness of the world.
And so innocent.
She did not even know what that single kneel meant in the eyes of certain people.
She had only been worried about an foul-mouthed, pretentious old man who was always hitting people.
Zhu Changli spoke in a low voice:
“You’ve hidden her all these years.”
“Did you never think there would come a day when you could no longer keep her hidden?”
Old Jiang said:
“I did.”
Zhu Changli asked:
“Then why did you keep hiding her?”
Old Jiang looked toward the house.
The door was shut.
There was no sound from behind it.
No one knew whether Shui Hua had truly gone to sleep as she was told, or was crouched behind the door with her sword in her arms, secretly eavesdropping.
A trace of weariness finally appeared in Old Jiang’s eyes.
“Because she’s alive.”
“As long as she lives another day, that’s one more day.”
Those words left Zhu Changli utterly silent.
The night fog grew thicker and thicker.
The sound of the tide beyond the village suddenly seemed very far away, as though some invisible barrier had cut it off.
Zhu Changli knew he could not stay any longer.
Tonight, he had seen someone he should never have seen, and confirmed a truth he should never have confirmed.
If he stayed any longer, he might alarm even more things.
He took one last look at the closed door.
This time, he truly did not know whether he should laugh or cry.
After a long while, Zhu Changli slowly took a step back.
Sea fog once again curled around the hem of his robes.
“Jiang Huaichao.”
His voice drifted from within the mist, so low it was almost inaudible.
“Tonight, I was never here in Sunset Village.”
Old Jiang stared at him.
“You’d better remember that.”
Zhu Changli did not answer.
The fog closed in.
The deep-blue figure gradually vanished beyond the courtyard gate.
Only the old oil lamp remained in the courtyard, swaying gently.
